Active powertrain mounts are commonly used in vehicle systems to couple powertrain components to the chassis of a vehicle while isolating vibration therebetween. One common type of active powertrain mount is a magneto-rheological (MR) engine mount that uses a sensor to monitor the pressure of the fluid in the mount to control the mount in an active direction. Such pressure-based control mounts generally require aggressive control to ensure proper operation. Active powertrain mounts with pressure-based control also require a pressure port in the mount which must be sealed, and can be sensitive to temperature because they are dependent on the mount performance. The sensors used for pressure-based control can be damaged by vacuum/pressure spikes.